6 years, 7 months ago Mike Moyers
The event that brought EVERYONE together
Jerry Lewis passed away a few days ago at the age of 91. Lewis was a tremendous comedian, writer, producer, film star and humanitarian. He was also the face and the mouth of the Muscular Dystrophy Association for over forty years.
I had the opportunity to be part of the local Jerry Lewis Telethon in the late 1980’s. I treasure that brief time doing live TV. Back then WGEM, the local NBC affiliate, did it up right by doing the full 24 hours, which included a number of live, local cut-ins each hour.
Everyone working at 513 Hampshire did something on-with-or in the Telethon. It wasn’t expected, it was something we all wanted to do.
My duties at the station consisted of generating revenue (sales), doing live morning radio with legends Bob Turek and Bill Wegman on AM 1440 and teaming up with Jim Roberts and Steve Cramblit to cover the various local sports events in the market. I had a couple of show that aired each weekday and, in general, got to do about anything sports related we could cash flow.
Leo Henning was the ringleader. And he made it fun.
The entire area came alive well before Labor Day. Kids went door-to-door to collect for MDA; there were car washes, bake sales, you name it. And during the local cut-in’s on Labor Day people in business, service club members, fire fighters, police, mail carriers and the like came on the air live to present whatever they had collected.
The Pepsi Cola Quincy Bottling Company (Refreshment Services Pepsi) would build a huge fort out of 12 packs of Pepsi, Mt. Dew and other brands and local radio stations would broadcast live until all the soda was sold. And then, of course, Pepsi would donate the proceeds to MDA.
Formal wear was the attire for those of us on the air. Turek, Wegman and I attempted to keep a tuxedo looking good for the full 24 hours while Shan Hendrix managed to look fresh and dainty in the evening gowns she was provided. WGEM’s news set was converted into a call-in center, with dozens of volunteers manning the phones and writing down pledges.
Everyone watched-everyone called and everyone gave. Everyone wanted to help Jerry’s kids.
But things were different then. There was no left and right, there was no one politicizing every move Jerry Lewis made. There were no conspiracy theories on “where the money went” and “who’s getting paid.”
But I can tell you this; working that 24 hours (and I did it a couple of times) with Bill, Bob, Shan Hendrix, Brady Dreasler, Jim Lawrence and the rest of the WGEM staff was some of the most fun I’ve had in broadcasting.
Some of it is because I felt like I was doing something really meaningful and good. Because in the end; we all were.
Bless you Jerry Lewis. And you Bill Wegman. And you too Bob Turek. The three of you can loosen those ties now.
